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Joanne Gardner tracks down the solutions to your print problems

Q I need to order an advertising ‘blimp’ and obviously it needs to be bespoke, but it’s also important that the design is spot-on with our corporate colours. Know of any good suppliers?
Peter Jenkins
via email

A There are a few out there. One, Leicestershire-based Imagine Inflatables (www.imagine-inflatables.com, 01455 559 956), designs and manufactures its blimps in-house using PU (polyurethane) nylon, which means they’re hard-wearing and obviously waterproof. For an extra charge, you can have the hull of the blimp in a Pantone colour to match your specific corporate colour. Now, because most blimps are one-offs, you wouldn’t be able to get a sample produced so as to check how the colour comes out but most companies would offer a visual of the inflatable, so it’s up to you whether you’d be happy to trust it. Imagine offers a full inspection and repair service and I suspect many blimp suppliers would. You have a choice with blimps; they can be cold-air filled, cold-air sealed or filled with helium to fly. Another company that does numerous bizarre shapes (giant mouse? Check. Big foot a la Monty Python? Check. Enormous bottle of Bud? Check) is Warwickshire-based Merlin Inflatables (www.merlininflatables.co.uk, 02476 301412). They screen or digitally print depending on the job and if the inflatable requires large bold artwork they may even airbrush or hand-decorate using flexible paints. Another one to try is Southampton-based Signature Balloons (www.signatureballoons.co.uk, 0870 736 9074).

Q I’m looking for a coated board of around 500gsm - and it has to be chlorine-free.
Brian Ramsay
via email

A If you’re looking for coated board of that thickness that’s entirely chlorine-free you may struggle. However, the following are elemental chlorine free: Arctic the Silk, by Arctic Paper (www.articpaper.com), which goes to 525gsm; Dualcote Duo by Robert Horne (www.roberthorne.co.uk), to 515gsm; Smurfit Kappa’s (www.smurfitkappa.co.uk) ESW, to 500gsm, and its Hansaboard, to 550gsm; Tullis Russell’s (www.tullis-russell.co.uk) New Gemini C2-S, to 530gsm, and Trucard 2 Gloss, to 500gsm; Stora Enso’s (www.storaenso.com) Pankabrite and Pankawhite ES (where do they get these names from?), to 550gsm and 560gsm respectively and, last but not least, Swedish Oppboga (info@oppboga.com), to 500gsm.

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